Lower Price Hill

A new multi-purpose community center in Lower Price Hill makes its debut this fall, but on Tuesday you can get a sneak peek of The Sanctuary.

Jen Walters is president and CEO of Community Matters and Education Matters. She says the $8.6 million renovation of St. Michael the Archangel Church will include a thrift store, a market-style food pantry, event, meeting, office and classroom spaces, and housing for AmeriCorps volunteers working in the neighborhood.

Deborah Hicks is a longtime writer and educator, employed by Duke University, and a Harvard graduate. But she’s possibly made the biggest impact in her life in Cincinnati’s Lower Price Hill neighborhood. Her new book, The Road Out: A Teacher’s Odyssey in Poor America, recounts her effort to influence the lives of seven girls, all living in poverty with limited dreams, using literature to show them the possibilities of a better life. She joins Mark Perzel to discuss her time in Cincinnati and her highly acclaimed book in advance of her appearance at Joseph Beth Booksellers at Rookwood on March 30.